凌虛吟1Lingxu YinAscending the clouds riding a crane;
Looking aloofly at the Yangzi and Han
4

Lingxu Yin occurs quite commonly in early qin handbooks, surviving in sixteen from 1425 through 1670.5 After 1670, however, it is included in only one extant handbook, Qinpu Xiesheng (1820).6Lingxu Yin usually comes directly before Liezi Yu Feng, for which it seems to serve as a prelude. This connection is emphasized in Shen Qi Mi Pu, where the last two phrases plus concluding harmonics of each of the two melodies is almost the same.7

Lingxu Yin has only three sections, as do many preludes. Such preludes often have no commentary, each borrowing its commentary from the longer melody that follows it.8 Thus it is not surprising both that there is no direct attribution of this melody until the ninth handbook to include it, Chongxiu Zhenchuan Qinpu (1585), and that this one, attributes it to the reputed creator of Liezi Yu Feng, Mao Minzhong. In fact, though, this 1585 version is very different from previous ones.9

Zhu Quan mentions "a friend like Zhong or Lü". Zhong must be
Zhong Ziqi (see
Gao Shan and Liu Shui for his friendship with the qin player Bo Ya); the identity of Lü is not so clear, perhaps Lü Dongbin?10

this piece must have been written by a follower of
Zhuangzi or
Liezi, or a friend like Zhong or Lü. Perhaps the flavor of the tune is like a long chant in the environs of a clear heavenly Daoist temple, or skywalking above the dark purple universe. This is what is called "a peaceful night with the moon shining so that the sky is like water, and the empty void has only the sound of (immortals) skywalking."

2.凌虛吟 Lingxu Yin vs. 凌虛引 Lingxu YinA full translation of the present title is Intonation on Ascending the Great Void. The latter means Preface on Ascending the Great Void; it is only used in
1647 (see chart below).
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4.Illustration: Riding a Crane, by Edgar Francisko Jimenez.
The calligraphy to the left of the image says:
躡雲鶴駕 Ascending the clouds riding a crane;
(See Section 1)
睥睨江漢 Looking aloofly at the Yangzi and Han (rivers; see the preface to
Shen You Liu He).
唐世璋__碧鈺題 John Thompson asked Biyu to write this.
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7.
See my transcriptions, pp. II-81/2 (mm. 56 - end) and p. II-88 (mm. 195 - end). In addition, phrases two and three of the opening of Shenpin Jiao Yi are almost the same as phrases one and two of Lingxu Yin. This and some other similarities suggests that these three: modal prelude, prelude, and melody, were intended as a set.
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8.
Ming Dynasty handbooks through around 1600 commonly precede long melodies with short preludes. I do not believe there is sufficient evidence at present to know how common this custom was during the Song dynasty, so I am skeptical of attributions made on this basis.
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